Cool Rider: Five Favorite Pfeiffer

In honor of Michelle Pfeiffer's return to the big screen (Hairspray, Stardust and at some point I Could Never Be Your Woman) I discussed ten of her greatest performances. After looking at my list again, I really think I should have placed Grease 2 somewhere on there (after all, it's a list of performances, not movies, how else would Deep End of the Ocean make any kind of list?).

Nevertheless, welcome back *Michele Pfeiffer. Excuse the obnoxious alliteration but here are five favorite Pfeiffer films.

White Oleander (2002)

Where was the Academy on this one? Not that they're anywhere they need to be, ever. As a homicidal Los Angeles artist, Pfeiffer gave one of her finest performances to date. Playing a beautiful, self-sufficient single mother who nearly ruins the life of her delicate daughter (Alison Lohman), Pfeiffer is sublime -- a picture of dysfunctional narcissism, yet weirdly, commendably strong. Sitting in prison for killing a lover in a fit of rage and enduring the stories of her daughter's varied foster mothers, Pfeiffer never makes her character likable but she's so compelling you begin to feel for her. Exceedingly demanding of her daughter (even while in prison) and viciously manipulative, Pfeiffer's character is so full of herself that when her daughter exclaims, "You're so beautiful" she says, without a hint of irony, "Prison agrees with me." By artfully melding her gorgeous Grace Kelly qualities with the cold eyes of a Ted Bundy, Michelle creates a classic performance for a real "Woman's Picture." 

The Age of Innocence (1993)

With Dangerous Liaisons, Pfeiffer had already proven herself "period piece and corset-worthy" years earlier, so it wasn't surprising that she could deliver the fragile world of Edith Wharton to the big screen. More surprising was Martin Scorsese, the man behind Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and GoodFellas, helming such a pretty, understated picture. Upon first look at Pfeiffer's "racy," and finally, anguished Countess Ellen Olenska, we see what a perfect match Scorsese, the material and Pfeiffer are. Taking place in the upper crust of the late 19th century, the film features Daniel Day-Lewis as a man set to marry a supposed suitable woman as a merging of two wealthy families. But when he first sees Pfeiffer (filmed with the camera moving slowly toward her) they exchange one of the first of many knowing glances that will permeate the picture with passionate anguish -- something Scorsese knows a lot about. Pfeiffer is subtly powerful, sensual and tragically romantic; her chemistry with an equally superb Lewis is so intense it becomes vigorously palpable. Without nudity, cursing or baseball bats to the head, Pfeiffer managed to convey the violence of repressed emotions.

Batman Returns (1992)

You really have to wonder what Halle Berry was thinking. She's gorgeous and fills a PVC cat suit  beautifully -- but even she had to know that Pfeiffer (and Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt) had properly marked that territory. As the split personality of Selina Kyle ("mousy" secretary to Christopher Walken's corporate scumbag) and Catwoman (whip wielding, mask wearing, kit-kat symbol of female vengeance and sex appeal), Pfeiffer absolutely commanded a performance, which could have been all vamp and no soul. But, Michelle made the wonderfully effective move of crafting a character who was both fun to watch and  complicated. By making the film so dark, cynical and morbidly funny (albeit a bit slow), director Tim Burton helped (of course), but a non goody-goody Pfeiffer was a scintillating überwoman.

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

Though Pfeiffer had done her own singing in Grease 2 (yes, it counts and yes, Pfeiffer's rendition of "Cool Rider" is more entertaining than it has any right to be), the world had yet to experience how bewitching the actress could be in a musical role. The Fabulous Baker Boys stars brothers Jeff and Beau Bridges as jazzmen unhappily enduring an endless parade of schmaltz via the club-and-hotel touring circuit. Their act is transformed, however, when they discover the vocal talents of ex-escort, trash-talking Suzie Diamond (Pfeiffer). A tough broad with questionable class just happens to ooze the kind of jazz credibility that the brothers (especially Jeff) have been pining for. So when it comes to Pfeiffer's Julie London-like chops, "pine" is the proper word. This should really be incredibly dorky, but as she slinks on the piano singing her own version of "Makin' Whoopee," Pfeiffer is a smoky sensation. Pauline Kael praised her performance perfectly when she wrote the actress had "the grinning infectiousness of Carole Lombard and the radiance of the very young Lauren Bacall."

Scarface (1983)

Scarface is, of course, legendary for its intense violence, over-the-top swagger and combustible dialogue that has remained quote-worthy to this day. But amidst all the chainsaw-wielding, coke-snorting and psychotic Al Pacino/Tony Montana adages was Pfeiffer's Elvira Hancock, the cool blonde wife turned desperately lost druggie. Proving her stunning presence, Pfeiffer was immediately unforgettable when she emerged, goddess-like, down an elevator and into Tony's capitalism-loving heart. Pfeiffer showed there was more to her impossibly angular, icy exterior, making what could have been a pretty, one-note bitch character into a sympathetic loser. Embodying the pristine glamour a guy like Montana would seek as the ultimate showpiece of American success, she was also a fractured screw-up, more so because she knew exactly why men wanted her (certainly not for her soul). Witnessing the couple's domestic exchanges becomes a thing of almost Edward Albee-like proportions with Michelle holding her own against a scene-chewing Pacino. And that takes some doing.

*If you want to understand everything La Pfeiffer, go to the fantastic Film Experience where Nathaniel R. writes vivid, rhapsodic essays about his favorite living movie star.

Read my entire list of Pfeiffer on film at MSN Movies.

Comments

[Felix Vasquez]

Thank goodness you didn't mention "Grease 2" even to be cute. That joke simply isn't funny anymore.

Great list.

[laura linger]

I think she's also pretty good in What Lies Beneath. I loathe Harrison Ford, but the film has Diana Scarwid, who I adore. Praise Jesus that you didn't list Up Close And Personal, which is an affront to everything that is decent about moviemaking and manages to sully the dead with its script, cast, plot, you name it. Jessica Savitch deserved better.